Proxy agent interface to peer-to-peer transactions

ABSTRACT

Various aspects of the subject technology relate to systems, methods, and machine-readable media for a proxy agent as an intermediary that hosts electronic exchange transactions between distributing computing devices to reduce the number of fraudulent transactions with respect to items of a multiplayer game. The proxy agent listens for events such as an item being listed for sale on an electronic marketplace associated with the multiplayer game, or a listed item being purchased from the electronic marketplace, before the proxy agent transitions to a state for initiating purchase transactions to obtain additional items from users and thereafter automatically listing the purchased items for sale on the electronic marketplace. The proxy agent serves as a conduit for sale and purchase transactions to restrict transactions from occurring outside of the electronic marketplace and to map pricing data for a given item to market data trends over the transactional life of the item.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure generally relates to a computer-operatedmultiplayer game, and more particularly to a proxy agent interface forpeer-to-peer transactions associated with the computer-operatedmultiplayer game.

Description of the Related Art

Video games, such as sports-themed video games, provide ever increasingrealistic game-playing experiences, including access to an electronicmarketplace for users of the game to transfer digital assets from thegame, such as avatars or player agents, with one another. Traditionalelectronic marketplaces provide a platform for users to create andrespond to item listings, although transactions associated with a givendigital asset can occur outside of the electronic marketplace.

SUMMARY

The disclosed system provides for an intermediate entity such as a proxyagent to host electronic exchange transactions between distributingcomputing devices to reduce and/or prevent fraudulent transactions withrespect to items of a multiplayer video game. The proxy agent listensfor events such as a user listing an item for sale on an electronicmarketplace associated with the multiplayer video game, or a userpurchasing an item listed for sale on the electronic marketplace, beforedeciding to initiate purchase transactions to obtain additional itemsfrom users listing their items for sale. Thereafter, the purchased itemwill be listed for sale on the electronic marketplace. The proxy agentmay serve as a conduit for sale transactions and purchase transactionsin order to restrict transactions from occurring outside of theelectronic marketplace and to map pricing data for a given item tomarket data trends over the transactional life of the item.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, acomputer-implemented method is provided. The method includes initiatinga connection to an application programming interface (API) of an onlinetransaction repository accessible to a plurality of participant devicesin a computer-operated multiplayer game, in which the online transactionrepository includes a collection of items associated with thecomputer-operated multiplayer game, and where the connection isinitiated by a proxy agent including a plurality of shards. The methodalso includes associating a first shard of the plurality of shards to apeer-to-peer transaction channel to the online transaction repository,in which at least two of the plurality of participant devices interactwith one another over the peer-to-peer transaction channel. The methodalso includes determining a first item from the collection of itemshaving a transactional history that does not exceed a threshold numberof transactions, in which the first item is associated with a first itemlisting accessible exclusive to the first shard. The method alsoincludes providing the first item to the peer-to-peer transactionchannel via the first shard. The method also includes determining that atrigger event associated with the first item occurred on thepeer-to-peer transaction channel. The method also includes obtainingpricing data associated with the trigger event from the peer-to-peertransaction channel. The method also includes generating a weighteddistribution of the obtained pricing data. The method also includesdetermining a base value for the first item from the weighteddistribution. The method also includes applying the base value to asecond item of a same type as that of the first item for an electronicacquisition transaction with the online transaction repository by theproxy agent, in which the second item is associated with a second itemlisting accessible exclusive to a second shard of the plurality ofshards.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a system isprovided including an online transaction repository and a proxy agentcommunicably coupled to the online transaction repository. The proxyagent is configured to initiate a connection to an applicationprogramming interface (API) of an online transaction repositoryaccessible to a plurality of participant devices in a computer-operatedmultiplayer game, in which the online transaction repository includes acollection of items associated with the computer-operated multiplayergame, and where the connection is initiated by a proxy agent including aplurality of shards. The proxy agent is configured to associate a firstshard of the plurality of shards to a peer-to-peer transaction channelto the online transaction repository, in which at least two of theplurality of participant devices interact with one another over thepeer-to-peer transaction channel. The proxy agent is configured todetermine a first item from the collection of items having atransactional history that does not exceed a threshold number oftransactions, in which the first item is associated with a first itemlisting accessible exclusive to the first shard. The proxy agent isconfigured to provide the first item to the peer-to-peer transactionchannel via the first shard. The proxy agent is configured to determinethat a trigger event associated with the first item occurred on thepeer-to-peer transaction channel. The proxy agent is configured toobtain pricing data associated with the trigger event from thepeer-to-peer transaction channel. The proxy agent is configured togenerate a weighted distribution of the obtained pricing data. The proxyagent is configured to determine a base value for the first item fromthe weighted distribution. The proxy agent is configured to apply thebase value to a second item of a same type as that of the first item foran electronic acquisition transaction with the online transactionrepository by the proxy agent, in which the second item is associatedwith a second item listing accessible exclusive to a second shard of theplurality of shards.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium is provided including instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform amethod. The method includes initiating a connection to an applicationprogramming interface (API) of an online transaction repositoryaccessible to a plurality of participant devices in a computer-operatedmultiplayer game, in which the online transaction repository includes acollection of items associated with the computer-operated multiplayergame, and where the connection is initiated by a proxy agent including aplurality of shards. The method also includes associating a first shardof the plurality of shards to a peer-to-peer transaction channel to theonline transaction repository, in which at least two of the plurality ofparticipant devices interact with one another over the peer-to-peertransaction channel. The method also includes determining a first itemfrom the collection of items having a transactional history that doesnot exceed a threshold number of transactions, in which the first itemis associated with a first item listing accessible exclusive to thefirst shard. The method also includes providing the first item to thepeer-to-peer transaction channel via the first shard. The method alsoincludes determining that a trigger event associated with the first itemoccurred on the peer-to-peer transaction channel. The method alsoincludes obtaining pricing data associated with the trigger event fromthe peer-to-peer transaction channel. The method also includesgenerating a weighted distribution of the obtained pricing data. Themethod also includes determining a base value for the first item fromthe weighted distribution. The method also includes applying the basevalue to a second item of a same type as that of the first item for anelectronic acquisition transaction with the online transactionrepository by the proxy agent, in which the second item is associatedwith a second item listing accessible exclusive to a second shard of theplurality of shards.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a system isprovided that includes means for storing instructions, and means forexecuting the stored instructions that, when executed by the means,cause the means to perform a method. The method includes initiating aconnection to an application programming interface (API) of an onlinetransaction repository accessible to a plurality of participant devicesin a computer-operated multiplayer game, in which the online transactionrepository includes a collection of items associated with thecomputer-operated multiplayer game, and where the connection isinitiated by a proxy agent including a plurality of shards. The methodalso includes associating a first shard of the plurality of shards to apeer-to-peer transaction channel to the online transaction repository,in which at least two of the plurality of participant devices interactwith one another over the peer-to-peer transaction channel. The methodalso includes determining a first item from the collection of itemshaving a transactional history that does not exceed a threshold numberof transactions, in which the first item is associated with a first itemlisting accessible exclusive to the first shard. The method alsoincludes providing the first item to the peer-to-peer transactionchannel via the first shard. The method also includes determining that atrigger event associated with the first item occurred on thepeer-to-peer transaction channel. The method also includes obtainingpricing data associated with the trigger event from the peer-to-peertransaction channel. The method also includes generating a weighteddistribution of the obtained pricing data. The method also includesdetermining a base value for the first item from the weighteddistribution. The method also includes applying the base value to asecond item of a same type as that of the first item for an electronicacquisition transaction with the online transaction repository by theproxy agent, in which the second item is associated with a second itemlisting accessible exclusive to a second shard of the plurality ofshards.

It is understood that other configurations of the subject technologywill become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing detailed description, wherein various configurations of thesubject technology are shown and described by way of illustration. Aswill be realized, the subject technology is capable of other anddifferent configurations and its several details are capable ofmodification in various other respects, all without departing from thescope of the subject technology. Accordingly, the drawings and detaileddescription are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not asrestrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide furtherunderstanding and are incorporated in and constitute a part of thisspecification, illustrate disclosed embodiments and together with thedescription serve to explain the principles of the disclosedembodiments. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture for distributed computingtransactions through a proxy agent suitable for practicing someimplementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example client and server fromthe architecture of FIG. 1 according to certain aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process of facilitating electronicexchange transactions between distributed computing devices through aproxy agent using the example server of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example process of facilitating electronicexchange transactions between distributed computing devices through aproxy agent using the example client and server of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4B illustrates a schematic diagram of an example interface betweena proxy agent for distributed computing transactions and an onlinetransaction repository.

FIG. 4C illustrates a schematic diagram of an example interface betweena proxy agent for distributed computing transactions and peer-to-peertransactions.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example process of an electronic acquisitiontransaction to acquire a content item on an online transactionrepository using the example server of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5B illustrates another example process of an electronic acquisitiontransaction to acquire a content item on an online transactionrepository using the example server of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5C illustrates an example process of an electronic acquisitiontransaction to list a content item for acquisition on an onlinetransaction repository using the example server of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5D illustrates an example process of an electronic acquisitiontransaction to relist a content item for acquisition on an onlinetransaction repository using the example server of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIG. 5C.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIG. 5C.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIGS. 5A and 5B.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system withwhich the client and server of FIG. 2 can be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth to provide a full understanding of the present disclosure. It willbe apparent, however, to one ordinarily skilled in the art that theembodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without some ofthese specific details. In other instances, well-known structures andtechniques have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure thedisclosure.

As used herein, the term “content item” may be used, for example, inreference to a digital file that is composed of one or more mediaelements of different types (text, image, metadata, video, audio, etc.).A content item can be a single picture or a single video file. Thecontent item may include a representation of a digital trading card foruse in a computer-operated multiplayer game (e.g., a computer-networkedsoccer game simulation), where the digital trading card may be atransferrable digital asset related to a certain subject (e.g., person,place or thing) and a description about the subject. The term “digitalasset” may be used, for example, in reference to a computer-operatedcommodity, and may be used interchangeably with the term “content item”in some implementations. The term “online transaction repository” mayrefer to, for example, an electronic commerce exchange where contentitems such as trading cards are sold, purchased, auctioned, or exchangedfor value between the proxy agent and one or more participant devices ofthe computer-operated multiplayer game. The term “proxy agent” may referto an online auction house that is an intermediary element betweendistributed computing devices associated with the computer-operatedmultiplayer game (e.g., users participating in the computer-networkedsoccer game simulation). The proxy agent can facilitate and/or hostdistributed computing transactions such as electronic acquisitiontransactions involving the content items to and from the onlinetransaction repository. The term “electronic acquisition transaction”may be used, for example, in reference to a sale transaction, a purchasetransaction or an auction transaction with the online transactionrepository. The term “electronic currency data” may be used, forexample, in reference to a commodity that is composed of one or moretypes of computer-operated currencies (digital coins, points, etc.). Theterm “shard” may be used, for example, in reference to a database ordata structure partition of data, where a shard is accessibleindependent of other shards in the database (or data structure).

General Overview

Online auction houses are generally available in many computer-operatedmultiplayer video games such as sports-themed video games (e.g.,Ultimate Team sports and games). Users of the sports-themed video gamescompete in cooperation games or head-to-head matches with other users toearn points and/or digital trading cards. If a user opens a pack ofdigital trading cards and receives a number of cards that the user doesnot desire to keep, the user may visit an online auction house totransfer and/or exchange (e.g., list them for sale) the undesirablecards with other users of the video game. The other users can see thecards that the original user listed for sale, and can buy them from theoriginal user. In this respect, the game (in conjunction with the onlineauction house) charges a percentage of the proceeds as a form ofbrokerage fee for the transaction, thereby representing a peer-to-peermarketplace for users to trade with one another. Traditional onlineauction houses face some great challenges. For example, as soon as users(e.g., human game players) can transfer content back-and-forth betweenthemselves, the game becomes wrought with sellers (or “coin sellers”)and users engaging in fraudulent activities. In some instances, theseusers run bots (e.g., supervised autonomous agents) that scour theelectronic marketplace to buy all the cards that are listed by otherusers for a relatively low price point (e.g., below market data trends).In many instances, these bots are instructed to purchase these items atthe near instant in time when the item is listed on the electronicmarketplace. These bots are also instructed to re-list the purchaseditems for a relatively higher value from the relatively low purchaseprice point. These users gather electronic currency data (e.g., digitalcoins) over time in this manner, and eventually these users accumulate asignificant amount of digital coins (e.g., millions or billions ofdigital coins) in an account associated with the game. Thisdisproportionate accumulation of digital coins creates a secondarymarket that is outside of the electronic marketplace, where electroniccurrency such as these gathered digital coins are sold and purchased.This secondary market that enables the transfer of digital coins betweenconsumers of the game (e.g., game players) circumvents the electronicmarketplace to the detriment of the service provider of the game (e.g.,the game publisher). In traditional electronic marketplaces, digitalcoins are not transferrable directly through the game or by the onlineauction house. In other instances, if the users want to buy a number ofdigital coins for consumption in the computer-operated multiplayer game,the users can purchase a million digital coins in exchange forgovernment-issued currency units (e.g., twenty U.S. Dollars) using athird-party currency exchange platform, which is paid directly to anaccount on the currency exchange platform by the users. In this respect,the recipient of the government-issued currency completes thetransaction by purchasing an objectively less-desirable digital tradingcard that is worth only 100 units (or 100 digital coins) from the userbut is instead listed for sale for one million units (or one milliondigital coins) by the user. Essentially, the transfer of digital coinsto the user from the original owner of the coins is processed throughthe electronic marketplace, although the pricing data for the solddigital trading card does not correctly map to the market data trendsfor that item. The transfer of one million digital coins, for example,directly into a recipient's account is at no cost to the purchasing userother than the currency that the purchasing user paid outside of thegame (and electronic marketplace). This creates an indirect market topurchase digital coins by fraudulently listing items that are notconsistent with the market pricing rates in exchange for currencyoutside of the electronic marketplace, and thereby enables the transferof digital assets that is a significant detriment to the operation ofcomputer-operated multiplayer games (e.g., ULTIMATE TEAM FIFA, WORLD OFWARCRAFT, DIABLO, etc.) and associated electronic marketplaces. Thiscircumvention of the electronic marketplace and pricing manipulationcreates a significant void in revenue for the game publishers, and posesa significant cost burden for game publishers to maintain a robustcomputer network security infrastructure and operation in an attempt toaddress the concerns created by users that trigger fraudulent activitiesusing autonomous bots that run on networks tied to the electronicmarketplaces.

The disclosed system addresses a problem in traditional multi-playergame systems that associate gameplay with electronic marketplaces suchas online auction houses, namely price manipulation of onlinetransactions between distributed computing devices while circumventingthe online marketplace for certain transactions essential to thetransfer of digital assets. This is a problem specifically arising inthe realm of computer technology. The problem is addressed by providinga solution also rooted in computer technology, namely, by consideringthe cessation of digital coin transmissions through fraudulent itemlistings while maintaining operations of an online auction house. Thedisclosed system represents an artificial intelligence based entity thatacts as a middleman entity (or proxy agent) between all purchases withusers so that when users obtain (or purchase) a digital trading cardthat the user does not want, that user can list that digital tradingcard for sale. In this respect, the middleman entity (or proxy agent)then would evaluate the pricing data of that digital trading card basedon supply and demand data, purchase that digital trading card from auser, and then relist the purchased digital trading card for sale.Eventually, the proxy agent sells the listed digital trading card toother users (or game players) through an electronic acquisitiontransaction so that the content is continuously circulating through thegame (and electronic marketplace) without the need to generate newcontent or destroy (or purge) content. With the proxy agent acting as aconduit between all purchase and sale transactions, a user may not bepermitted to initiate a purchase or sale transaction directly withanother user on the electronic marketplace, thus restricting anyexecution of transactions that are disproportionately mismatched withmarket-based pricing points. The proxy agent interaction with apurchasing user or selling user is transparent, and the user engagementin a free market of transferring digital assets with other users can bepreserved.

The subject system provides several advantages including reducing thenumber of fraudulent item listings being generated on the electronicmarketplace, maintaining all transactions (including purchases andsales) within the boundaries of the electronic marketplace, andmaintaining a consistent mapping between marketplace pricing trends andpricing points of electronic acquisition transactions.

The disclosed system further provides improvements to the functioning ofthe computer itself because it saves data storage space, reduces systemloading times and reduces the cost of system resources. Specifically,the proxy agent facilitates the savings in storage space by notrequiring the generation of new content to keep the online marketplaceoperational because the existing content items are kept in circulationfor different cycles of gameplay. The proxy agent facilitates thereduction of system loading times by storing shards, where eachindividual shard corresponds to a different collection of items with adifferent subset of users interacting with the shard-specific collectionof items. The proxy agent facilitates the reduction in the cost ofsystem resources by accessing a common repository of item metadata thatindicates supply and demand metrics that is relevant to both sale andpurchase transaction decisions by the proxy agent.

Although many examples provided herein describe a user's search inputsbeing identifiable (e.g., a user's transactional history identifying theuser's interactions with content items from an auction house), ordownload history for content items being stored, each user may grantexplicit permission for such user information to be shared or stored.The explicit permission may be granted using privacy controls integratedinto the disclosed system. Each user may be provided notice that suchuser information will be shared with explicit consent, and each user mayat any time end having the information shared, and may delete any storeduser information. The stored user information may be encrypted toprotect user security.

The user can at any time delete the user information from memory and/oropt out of having the user information stored in memory. Additionally,the user can, at any time, adjust appropriate privacy settings toselectively limit the types of user information stored in memory, orselect the memory in which the user information is stored (e.g., locallyon the user's device as opposed to remotely a server). In many examples,the user information does not include and/or share the specificidentification of the user (e.g., the user's name) unless otherwisespecifically provided or directed by the user.

Example System Architecture

FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture 100 suitable for practicingsome implementations of the disclosure such as a proxy agent that hostselectronic exchanges between distributed computing devices. Thearchitecture 100 includes servers 130 and clients 110 connected over anetwork 150. One of the many servers 130 is configured to host acomputer-operated multiplayer game with access to an online transactionrepository such as an electronic marketplace (not shown). The onlinetransaction repository can be an online auction house that hosts itemlistings for transfer through direct purchase/sale transactions, auctiontransactions or exchange transactions, where items indicated in the itemlistings are marked with real-time pricing data and statisticalinformation relating to professional sports players depicted as avatarsand/or player agents in the items. One of the many servers 130 alsohosts a collection of items. The collection of items can be searchedusing an online transaction repository engine (e.g., accessible througha multiplayer video game running on one of the clients 110). The servers130 can return content items tagged with metadata indicating any priorpurchase transactions and/or sale transactions involving one or moreusers of the computer-operated multiplayer game, which may be used todetermine base price data for a given item. For purposes of loadbalancing, multiple servers 130 can host the neural network and multipleservers 130 can host the collection of images.

The servers 130 can be any device having an appropriate processor,memory, and communications capability of hosting access to themultiplayer video game and the electronic marketplace. The electronictransaction engine is accessible by various clients 110 over the network150. The clients 110 can be, for example, desktop computers, mobilecomputers, tablet computers (e.g., including e-book readers), mobiledevices (e.g., a smartphone or PDA), set top boxes (e.g., for atelevision), video game consoles, or any other devices havingappropriate processor, memory, and communications capabilities foraccessing the online transaction repository engine on one of the servers130. The network 150 can include, for example, any one or more of alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, andthe like. Further, the network 150 can include, but is not limited to,any one or more of the following network topologies, including a busnetwork, a star network, a ring network, a mesh network, a star-busnetwork, tree or hierarchical network, and the like.

One of the many servers 130 is configured to host real-world data, suchas real-world data corresponding to a sporting event (e.g., for use withdigital trading cards). For purposes of load balancing, multiple servers130 can host the real-world data. The server 130 may further beconfigured to host game simulations for multiple devices 110. Forexample, the server 130 may host a multiplayer game simulation to whichmultiple devices 110 connect, such that the multiple devices 110experience the same simulation at approximately the same time.

The devices 110 include one or more computing devices. The devices 110may include devices capable of running a simulation engine, such as asports game, for simulating sporting events. For example, the devices110 may include stationary video game consoles, tablets, mobile devices,laptop computers, desktop computers, and/or other devices capable ofrunning a sports-themed video game.

Example Proxy Agent System for Distributed Computing Transactions

FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 illustrating an example server 130 andclient 110 in the architecture 100 of FIG. 1 according to certainaspects of the disclosure. The client 110 and the server 130 areconnected over the network 150 via respective communications modules 218and 238. The communications modules 218 and 238 are configured tointerface with the network 150 to send and receive information, such asdata, requests, responses, and commands to other devices on the network.The communications modules 218 and 238 can be, for example, modems orEthernet cards.

The server 130 includes a memory 232, a processor 236, and acommunications module 238. The memory 232 of the server 130 includes anonline transaction repository engine 240, an electronic acquisitionengine 241, a listing engine 242, and a relisting engine 243. Theprocessor 236 of the server 130 is configured to execute instructions,such as instructions physically coded into the processor 236,instructions received from software in the memory 232, or a combinationof both.

The online transaction repository engine 240 may be physically codedwith instructions which, when executed, accesses an applicationprogrammable interface (API) of the online transaction repository whereitems can be exchanged between users through the server 130 acting asthe proxy agent. The online transaction repository engine 240 mayregister events to listen for, which occur on the online transactionrepository, and may execute one or more callback functions in responseto the registered event. The callback functions may initiate a functionassociated with the purchase and/or sale of a content item such as adigital trading card of the multiplayer game.

The electronic acquisition engine 241 may be physically coded withinstructions which, when executed, initiate a purchase transaction of acontent item listed for sale by a user of the multiplayer game on theonline transaction repository. The electronic acquisition engine 241 isconfigured to execute operations related to the purchase of contentitems from users based on one or more purchase transaction settings. Thepurchase transaction settings may be adjustable using one or moreparameters (local or global) for each setting in an offline flow.

The listing engine 242 may be physically coded with instructions which,when executed, generate an item listing on the online transactionrepository. The listing engine 242 is configured to execute operationsrelated to the listing of content items on the online transactionrepository to announce the item for sale to users based on one or morelisting settings. The sale transaction settings may be adjustable usingone or more parameters (local or global) for each setting in an offlineflow.

The relisting engine 243 may be physically coded with instructionswhich, when executed, relist the item listing on the online transactionrepository. The relisting engine 242 is configured to execute operationsrelated to the relisting of content items on the online transactionrepository to re-instantiate the announcement that the item is for saleto users based on one or more relisting settings. The relisting settingsmay be adjustable using one or more parameters (local or global) foreach setting in an offline flow.

The memory 232 also includes item metadata 244. The item metadata 244may include data relating to peer-to-peer transactions includinghistorical transaction data obtained (or collected) through the proxyagent for a given item associated with the computer-operated multiplayergame. In one or more implementations, the item metadata 244 includesglobal and local parameters for use by the electronic acquisition engine241, the listing engine 242 and the relisting engine 243.

In one or more implementations, the global and local parameters includea “purchaseEnabled” parameter signal that indicates whether the proxyagent can purchase items from users of the computer-operated multiplayergame. The global and local parameters may also include a“purchaseChanceEnabled” parameter signal that indicates whether theproxy agent does not potentially purchase an item if the asking price isin a different part of a predetermined price band when the proxy agentis determining whether to purchase an item from the user. The global andlocal parameters may also include a “useMarketDataInPurchaseDecision”parameter signal that indicates whether the proxy agent is set to useexisting market data about an item in the determination of whether theproxy agent is to purchase an item. The global and local parameters mayalso include a “purchaseDistributionAlpha” parameter signal thatindicates an Alpha value to be used in a Beta distribution used todetermine the purchase price of an item. The global and local parametersmay also include a “purchaseDistributionBeta” parameter signal thatindicates an Beta value to be used in a Beta distribution used todetermine the purchase price of an item.

In one or more implementations, the global and local parameters includea “startingBidPercent” parameter signal that indicates the percentage ofthe asking price (or listed price), for which the proxy agent lists thepurchased item when the proxy agent has purchased the item. The globaland local parameters may also include a “itemPriceJigglingEnabled”parameter signal that indicates whether the starting bid price is to berounded to a nearest value (e.g., 10/100/1000) when the proxy agentpurchases an item. The global and local parameters may also include a“minStartingBid” parameter signal that indicates what is the least (orminimum threshold) that the proxy agent can list an item for. The globaland local parameters may also include a “buyNowPriceDistributionAlpha”parameter signal that indicates an Alpha value to be used in a Betadistribution used to determine the buy-now price of purchased items. Theglobal and local parameters may also include a“buyNowPriceDistributionBeta” parameter signal that indicates an Betavalue to be used in a Beta distribution used to determine the buy-nowprice of purchased items. The global and local parameters may alsoinclude a “startingBuyNowModifierEnabled” parameter signal thatindicates whether the proxy agent is to use a weighted random value todetermine the percentage of the base price of the buy-now price when theproxy agent purchases an item. The global and local parameters may alsoinclude a “bidOnExpiredItemsEnabled” that indicates whether the proxyagent is set to bid on expiring items or allow the item listings toexpire. The global and local parameters may also include a“itemPriceJigglingRoundToNearest” parameter signal that indicates atwhat level the proxy agent rounds the starting bid of an item purchasedby the proxy agent. The global and local parameters may also include a“startingBuyNowPercent” parameter signal that indicates the percentageof a base price for an item the proxy agent lists when the proxy agentpurchases the item. In one or more implementations, the“startingBuyNowPercent” parameter signal may be overridden when the“buyNowModifierEnabled” parameter signal is set (or activated).

In one or more implementations, the global and local parameters includea “relistBuyNowPercent” parameter signal that indicates the percentageof a buy-now price the proxy agent relists for when the item listed bythe proxy agent does not get sold within a prescribed time period. Theglobal and local parameters may also include a“relistStartingBidPercent” parameter signal that indicates thepercentage of a starting bid the proxy agent relists the item when theitem listed by the proxy agent does not get sold. In one or moreimplementations, the “relistStartingBidPercent” parameter signal may beoverridden when a “relistBidModifierEnabled” parameter signal is set (oractivated). The global and local parameters may also include a“relistStartingBidModifierEnabled” parameter signal that indicateswhether the proxy is set to select a value from a weighted randomdistribution to determine the percentage of the starting bid the proxyagent is to use to relist the item when an item listed by the proxyagent is not sold. The global and local parameters may also include a“relistBuyNowModifierEnabled” parameter signal that indicates whetherthe proxy is set to select a value from a weighted random distributionto determine the percentage of the buy-now price the proxy agent is touse to relist the item when an item listed by the proxy agent is notsold.

In one or more implementations, the global and local parameters includea “priceJigglingFormulaVersion” parameter signal that indicates theversion of the price-jiggling formula the proxy agent utilizes. Theglobal and local parameters may also include a“buyNowPriceFormulaVersion” parameter signal that indicates the versionof the buy-now calculation formula the proxy agent utilizes. The globaland local parameters may also include a “bidPurchaseFormulaVersion”parameter signal that indicates the version of the purchase-by-bidformula the proxy agent is to use.

Also included in the memory 232 of the server 130 is supply/demand data245. The supply/demand data 245 may include historical transactionaldata that indicates a rate of transaction for a given item over a giventime period. For example, the supply/demand 245 may indicate the demandfor a given item based on how much time elapsed from a time the item waslisted for sale to a time that the item was purchased, including howmany units of that type of item have been sold within the given timeperiod. The supply/demand data 245 also may indicate how many units of agiven type of item have been purchased by the proxy agent, including howmany units of the given type of item have been sold by the proxy agent.In one or more implementations, the supply/demand data 245 maintainsrespective historical transactional data for each given shard associatedwith the online transaction repository.

The memory 232 also includes a collection of items 246. The collectionof items 246 may include one or more collections of digital tradingcards for a given sport video game (or other multiplayer video games).In one or more implementations, each content item in the collection ofitems 246 may include an identifier that is unique to the proxy agent.In one or more implementations, the collection of items 246 includes anindex to each digital trading card stored in the collection of items246, where the index is addressable by an identifier of the contentitem, a corresponding shard or a given user account of the onlinetransaction repository. The collection of items 246 may store arepresentation of the content item with a relatively lower resolutionwhere a native version of the content item is stored on a repositoryaccessible to the collection of items 246. Each content item in thecollection of items 246 may include content that includes a graphicalrepresentation of a game character (e.g., portrait of professionalsoccer player depicted in the computer-operated multiplayer game) andstatistical information about the game character (e.g., skill ratings,associated team, etc.). The content items, once purchased and/or sold,can be downloaded from the collection of items 246 to a participantdevice.

Although the supply/demand data 245 is illustrated as being separatefrom the item metadata 244, in certain aspects the supply/demand data245 is a subset of the item metadata 244. Furthermore, although thecollection of items 246 and the online transaction repository engine 240are illustrated as being in the same memory 232 of the server 130, incertain aspects the collection of items 246 and the online transactionrepository engine 242 can be hosted in a memory of a different serverbut accessible by the server 130 illustrated in FIG. 2.

The device 110 includes a processor 212, the communications module 218,and the memory 220 that includes the application 222. The application222 may be a simulation engine, or physically coded instructions thatexecute a simulation of a sporting event, such as a sports-themed videogame. The device 110 also includes an input device 216, such as akeyboard, mouse, touchscreen and/or game controller, and an outputdevice 214, such as a display. The processor 212 of the device 110 isconfigured to execute instructions, such as instructions physicallycoded into the processor 212, instructions received from software in thememory 220, or a combination of both. The processor 212 of the device110 executes instructions from the application 222 causing the processor212 to run the sports-themed video game and provide access to an onlinetransaction repository, where content items such as digital tradingcards associated with the sports-themed video game can be purchased,sold, auctioned or exchanged with other participants in thesports-themed video game through the server 130.

In one or more implementations, using the online transaction repositoryengine 240, the processor 236 establishes a connection to an applicationprogramming interface (API) of the online transaction repositoryaccessible to participant devices in a computer-operated multiplayergame. The online transaction repository may include the collection ofitems 246 associated with the computer-operated multiplayer game. Theprocessor 236, using the online transaction repository engine 240, maydetermine that a transaction trigger event with respect to a firstcontent item in the collection of items 246 has occurred. Thetransaction trigger event may indicate a first electronic acquisitiontransaction associated with the first content item by at least one ofthe participant devices. In one or more implementations, using theonline transaction repository engine 240, the processor 236 determinesthat the transaction trigger event corresponds to an indication that thefirst content item has been marked for acquisition in the onlinetransaction repository by one of the participant devices. In one or moreimplementations, using the online transaction repository engine 240, theprocessor 236 determines that the transaction trigger event correspondsto an indication that the first content item has been acquired from theonline transaction repository by one of the plurality of participantdevices.

In one or more implementations, using the electronic acquisition engine241, the processor 236 determines, in response to the transactiontrigger event, that a purchase control signal is enabled. The purchasecontrol signal may indicate that automated electronic acquisitions fromparticipant devices are permitted. In one or more implementations, usingthe electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236 determines, inresponse to the enabled purchase control signal, that information aboutthe first content item is stored in metadata (e.g., item metadata 244)associated with the online transaction repository. In one or moreimplementations, using the electronic acquisition engine 241, theprocessor 236 processes electronic acquisition transaction historicaldata associated with the online transaction repository for analysis.Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236 maythereafter identify the first content item from an index in themetadata, where the index contains the information about the firstcontent item.

Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236determines a base price parameter for a second electronic acquisitiontransaction based on a weighted distribution of content items associatedwith the computer-operated multiplayer game of a same type as that ofthe first content item from the metadata. Using the electronicacquisition engine 241, the processor 236 adjusts the base priceparameter by a factor of a value of the price modifier parameter tocalculate the maximum price parameter.

Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236determines a weight value of each of the content items from the weighteddistribution, where the weight value may indicate a level of rarity ofthe content item in the online transaction repository. Using theelectronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236 also calculates thebase price parameter from a logarithmic equation as a function of thedetermined weight values.

Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236determines a price modifier parameter for the second electronicacquisition transaction based on a number of content items of the sametype as that of the first content item available for acquisition for thecomputer-operated multiplayer game. Using the electronic acquisitionengine 241, the processor 236 adjusts the number of content items bydecreasing the number by a factor of a first predetermined value. Usingthe electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236 also sums theadjusted number of content items with a second predetermined value tocalculate the price modifier parameter.

Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236determines a maximum price parameter for the second electronicacquisition transaction based on the base price parameter and the pricemodifier parameter. Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, theprocessor 236 determines a first item listing indicating a secondcontent item marked for acquisition in the online transactionrepository. The second content item may have been marked by a firstparticipant device of the participant devices. Using the electronicacquisition engine 241, the processor 236 determines that the secondcontent item includes a current bid price parameter and a buy now priceparameter. Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor236 also determines that a value of the buy now price parameter does notexceed a value of the maximum price parameter, where the second contentitem is obtained based on the buy now price parameter.

Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236determines whether a counter associated with the first item listing hasexceeded a prescribed time period. Using the electronic acquisitionengine 241, the processor 236 obtains the second content item from theonline transaction repository using the second electronic acquisitiontransaction when the counter has not exceeded the prescribed timeperiod.

In one or more implementations, using the listing engine 242, theprocessor 236 generates a second item listing of the second contentitem. The second item listing may mark the second content item availablefor acquisition by participant devices other than the first participantdevice. The second item listing may be generated by determining a firstlisting bid price parameter for the second content item, determiningwhether a buy now price modifier control signal is enabled, determininga first listing buy now price parameter for the second content item whenthe buy now price modifier control signal is not enabled, anddetermining a first listing duration parameter from a weighted randomdistribution. Using the listing engine 242, the processor 236 providesthe second item listing for transmission to the API of the onlinetransaction repository.

Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236determines that the counter has exceeded the prescribed time period.Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236 alsodetermines whether the purchase control signal is enabled when thecounter exceeded the prescribed time period. Using the electronicacquisition engine 241, the processor 236 also determines a current bidprice parameter of the first item listing when the purchase controlsignal is enabled. Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, theprocessor 236 also determines whether a first bid price value of thecurrent bid price parameter exceeds a value of the maximum priceparameter. Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor236 also determines a second bid price value for the current bid priceparameter when the first bid price value does not exceed the value ofthe maximum price parameter. The second bid price value may be in arange of the first bid price value and the value of the maximum priceparameter, where the second bid price value is determined using one ormore values from a beta distribution. The second bid price value may bedetermined by decreasing the value of the maximum price parameter by thefirst bid price value to determine a first number, adjusting the firstnumber by a factor of a value from the beta distribution to determine asecond number, and summing the first bid price value with the secondnumber to calculate the second bid price value. Using the electronicacquisition engine 241, the processor 236 also provides, fortransmission, an electronic acquisition request to the onlinetransaction repository, where the electronic acquisition request mayindicate a bid to acquire the second content item at the second bidprice value. Using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor236 also receives indication that the bid to acquire the second contentitem at the second bid price value has been accepted. Using theelectronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236 also obtains, inresponse to the received indication, the second content item from theonline transaction repository. In one or more implementations, the firstitem listing may be permitted to expire when the purchase control signalis not enabled or the first bid price value exceeds the value of themaximum price parameter.

Using the listing engine 242, the processor 236 determines that the buynow price modifier control signal is enabled. Using the listing engine242, the processor 236 also determines a buy now price modifierparameter from a weighted random distribution, in which the firstlisting buy now price parameter is based on the buy now price modifierparameter. Using the listing engine 242, the processor 236 determinesthat a price rounding parameter is enabled. Using the listing engine242, the processor 236 also adjusts one or more of the first listing bidprice parameter or the first listing buy now price parameter by roundingto a nearest integer when the price rounding parameter is enabled.

Using the listing engine 242, the processor 236 determines that thesecond content item was not electronically acquired through the seconditem listing. Using the relisting engine 243, the processor 236determines a relist bid modifier parameter. Using the relisting engine243, the processor 236 also determines a second listing bid priceparameter different from the first listing bid price parameter for thesecond item listing based on the relist bid modifier parameter, wherethe second listing bid price parameter may be a product of the firstlisting bid price parameter and the relist bid modifier parameter. Usingthe relisting engine 243, the processor 236 also determines a relist buynow modifier parameter. Using the relisting engine 243, the processor236 also determines a second listing buy now price parameter for thesecond item listing based on the relist buy now modifier parameter,where the second listing buy now price parameter may be a product of thefirst listing buy now price parameter and the relist buy now modifierparameter. Using the relisting engine 243, the processor 236 alsodetermines a second listing duration parameter from the weighted randomdistribution for the second item listing. Using the relisting engine243, the processor 236 also adjusts the second item listing using thesecond listing bid price, the second listing buy now price and thesecond listing duration parameter. Using the relisting engine 243, theprocessor 236 also provides, for transmission, the adjusted second itemlisting to the API of the online transaction repository.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process 300 of facilitating electronicexchange transactions between distributed computing devices through aproxy agent using the example server of FIG. 2. While FIG. 3 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 2, it should be noted that the processsteps of FIG. 3 may be performed by other systems.

The process 300 begins by proceeding from start step to step 301 wherethe processor 236, using the online transaction repository engine 240,determines a trigger event in one or more electronic acquisitiontransactions of a first content item associated with a multiplayer gameat an online transaction repository. For example, the server 130, actingas the proxy agent, monitors activity involving a particularsoccer-themed digital trading card, and determines that either apurchase or sale transaction of the soccer-themed digital trading cardoccurred. The trigger event may be indicative of a need to analyzewhether there is an increase in supply or demand for that particularsoccer-themed digital trading card. In some implementations, inventorydata accessible to the proxy agent via the processor 236 may indicatesupply of the particular soccer-themed digital trading card is runningbelow a predetermined supply threshold value and, therefore, the proxyagent transitions into a state to search for additional units of theparticular soccer-themed digital trading card for purchase through anelectronic acquisition transaction with the online transactionrepository.

Subsequently, in step 302, using the online transaction repositoryengine 240, the processor 236 searches for a second content item in theonline transaction repository in response to the trigger event. In oneor more implementations, the second content item is determined based onan acquisition metric associated with the first content item. Forexample, the server 130, using the processor 236 and the electronicacquisition engine 241, determines the acquisition metric from thesupply/demand data 245, which may indicate that a number of units of thefirst content item (e.g., the particular soccer-themed digital tradingcard) hosted in the collection of items 246 is indeed below thepredetermined threshold value.

Next, in step 303, the processor 236 finds the second content item anddetermines whether an item listing for the found second content item hasexpired. The second content item may be listed by a first participantdevice of the multiplayer game and, therefore, associated with the firstparticipant device. If the item listing has expired, then the process300 proceeds back to step 302 to initiate a new search for an itemlisting with a content item similar to the first content item.Otherwise, the process 300 proceeds to step 304.

In step 304, the processor 236, using the electronic acquisition engine241, obtains the second content item from the online transactionrepository using one or more electronic acquisition transactions. Forexample, the server 130, as the proxy agent, can search for and purchasethe particular soccer-themed digital trading card listed on the onlinetransaction repository by a user of the soccer-themed game simulation.In some implementations, the server 130, as the proxy agent, acquiresthe soccer-themed digital trading card in exchange for a number ofdigital coins as a form of electronic currency used in the soccer-themedgame simulation.

Subsequently, in step 305, the processor 236, using the listing engine242, generates an item listing for the second content item to offer thesecond content item for acquisition by a second participant device ofthe multiplayer game. The item listing may include a representation ofthe second content item with information on how to acquire the secondcontent item from the online transaction repository. The information mayindicate real-time pricing data at a time that a participant deviceaccesses the item listing (e.g., a user viewing the item listing with acurrent bid price), pricing parameters set by the owner of the itemlisting (e.g., buy now price, minimum bid price), and statisticalinformation about a player agent or avatar depicted in the secondcontent item (e.g., game statistics for a professional soccer playerbeing simulated in the soccer-themed game simulation).

Next, in step 306, the processor 236 determines whether the item listingfor the second content item has sold (or has been electronicallyacquired). If the item listing has not sold, then the process 300proceeds to step 307 to relist the item listing to the onlinetransaction repository for at least another opportunity to sell theitem. Otherwise, the process 300 proceeds to step 308.

In step 308, using the communications module 238, the processor 236provides, for transmission, the second content item to the secondparticipant device based on an electronic acquisition transactiontriggered in response to the item listing. For example, a user of thesecond participant device may select to purchase the second content itemlisted by the proxy agent, and the proxy agent may transmit the secondcontent item over a download transmission to the second participantdevice. In one or more implementations, the second content item isprovided to the second participant device in exchange for electroniccurrency from the second participant device.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example process 400 of facilitating electronicexchange transactions between distributed computing devices through aproxy agent using the example client and server of FIG. 2. The process400 begins in step 401 when a user, for example, loads an application222 on a client 110 such as a computer-operated multiplayer game runningon the client 110, and the client 110 receives an input from the user inusing the input device 216. In some implementations, the input indicatesan electronic acquisition transaction with respect to a content itemassociated with the computer-operated multiplayer game.

The input may indicate an intent to sell the content item on the onlinetransaction repository or an intent to purchase the content item fromthe online transaction repository. In one or more implementations, theinput includes instructions to initiate an electronic acquisitiontransaction by purchasing the content item from or selling the contentitem to the online transaction repository. The input may include one ormore parameters that set a baseline price and/or maximum price parameterfor the electronic acquisition transaction. This list of parameters ofthe input is not exhaustive and may include other parameters for theelectronic acquisition transaction.

Next, in step 402, the application 222 on the client 110 sends the inputas an indication to the server 130 in order to initiate one or moreelectronic acquisition transactions with respect to the content itemwithout further input from the client 110. In step 403, the server 130receives the indication from the client 110. Subsequently, in step 404,the server 130 determines, in response to the received indication, thata purchase control signal is enabled.

Next, in step 405, the server 130 determines that the content itemidentified by the indication is stored in metadata. Subsequently, instep 406, the server 130 determines a plurality of electronicacquisition transaction parameters associated with the content item.Next, in step 407, the server 130 performs the electronic acquisitiontransaction with response to the content item based on the plurality ofelectronic acquisition transaction parameters.

In step 408, the server 130 provides an item listing of the content itemto the client 110 for display and electronic acquisition transacting bythe client 110. In step 409, the client 110 receives the item listingfrom the server 130. Next, in step 410, the received item listing andother item listings are provided for display via the application 222 ofthe client 110.

FIG. 4B illustrates a schematic diagram 420 of an example interfacebetween a proxy agent (e.g., 421, 422) for distributed computingtransactions and an online transaction repository 423. The proxy agent421 is configured to handle items listed for sale by the proxy agent421, and the proxy agent 422 is configured to handle purchases made fromusers by the proxy agent 422. In operation, a participant device of themultiplayer game provides signaling (e.g., 424) to list an item on theonline transaction repository 423. Rather than having the participantdevice sell the item directly to another participant device where thetransaction may be susceptible to price manipulation and otherfraudulent type activities, the proxy agent 422 acts as a buying partyand purchases the item listed for sale by the participant device. Inthis respect, the proxy agent 422 may first monitor the onlinetransaction repository 423 for items listed by participant devices usinga monitoring signal (e.g., 426). The proxy agent 422 thereafterinitiates an electronic acquisition transaction with the participantdevice through the online transaction repository 423 to obtain the itemlisted by the participant device (e.g., 425). In exchange for the item,the proxy agent 422 provides participant device signaling toelectronically transact electronic currency data to the participantdevice (e.g., 427). For example, the proxy agent 422 may compensate theuser with an agreed upon amount of digital coins in exchange for thedigital trading card listed for sale on the online transactionrepository 423.

In one or more implementations, the proxy agent 421 lists the purchaseditem for electronic acquisition by a participant device (e.g., 428). Aparticipant device may provide participant device signaling toelectronically acquire the item from the online transaction repository423 (e.g., 430). The participant device either simultaneously or in asubsequent transaction provides participant device signaling toelectrically transact electronic currency data to the proxy agent 421 inexchange for the item purchased by the participant device (e.g., 431).In one more implementations, the proxy agent 421 provides a monitoringsignal to the online transaction repository 423 to monitor items forelectronic transacting to participant devices (e.g., 429).

FIG. 4C illustrates a schematic diagram 440 of an example interfacebetween a proxy agent for distributed computing transactions andpeer-to-peer transactions. FIG. 4C is substantially similar to FIG. 4Band, therefore, only differences from FIG. 4B will be discussed inreference to FIG. 4C. In operation, a participant device of themultiplayer game provides signaling (e.g., 424) to list an item on theonline transaction repository 423. In a peer-to-peer transaction,another participant device accesses the online transaction repository423 and provides participant device signaling to electronically acquirean item from the online transaction repository 423. In one or moreimplementations, the proxy agent 421 monitors the peer-to-peer saletransactions for data indicating a base price distribution. In one ormore implementations, the proxy agent 422 also monitors the peer-to-peerpurchase transactions for additional data indicating the base pricedistribution. The proxy agent (e.g., 421, 422) monitors the base pricedistribution when pricing data for a given item is not sufficient and/orthe given item is a rare item (e.g., 442, 443) for use in listingtransactions (e.g., 428) and purchase transactions (e.g., 425).

In traditional online auctions, there are two ends of a deal, party Awho places an item for sale and party B who buys that item from party A.As discussed above, party A and party B may collude outside of themultiplayer interactive environment and sell an item that was of verylittle value for very high amounts of monetary value, which serves fortransfer of money and fraudulent activity within the interactiveenvironment. To mitigate this problem, a proxy C is interjected suchthat proxy C acquires an item listed by party A and then subsequentlylists that same item for sale to party B. In this respect, party A andparty B do not have a direct transaction with each other. Now, a certainset of questions arise such as what are the set of prices that the proxyC should acquire an item at, and at what price should the proxy C listfor sale to party B. This is more prevalent when the item does not existin inventory of the online auction house. For external events that occuroutside of the electronic marketplaces, the data available to thetraditional online auction houses may not be sufficient to represent theactual demand in the marketplace or for some rare items that do nottrigger sufficient interaction data.

The interactive environment may have multiple options on which platformto conduct transactions. In one or more implementations, users areassigned to each shard (e.g., shard 1, shard 2, and shard 3) based on apredetermined classification in some embodiments, or based on arandomized classification in other embodiments. For example, for usersthat are assigned to conduct transactions within shard 1, can only seethe other users also assigned to shard 1. In this respect, there islimited interactivity between shard 1 and shard 2 (e.g., number ofinter-shard transactions). In one or more implementations, the proxyagent associates one of these shards to the traditional way ofinteraction between users (i.e., person-to-person transactions). In thisrespect, the shard that has access to the person-to-person transactionscan enable the proxy agent to determine an approximate base line of theacquisition values (e.g., base price values) that are of interest tousers.

If there is a new item that was never in the interactive environment andthe proxy agent does not have a metric indicating a level of popularityfor that new item, then the proxy agent may release that new item (i.e.,provide an item listing) to a particular shard to gather userinteraction data (e.g., user feedback) from the peer-to-peertransactions and measure the amount of demand for that new item usingvalues dictated by users. Once the proxy agent has the base value forthat type of item, the proxy agent can replicate and/or distribute thebase value to the other shards (e.g., shard 2 and shard 3), where theitem listing values are controlled by the proxy agent. The proxy agentmay vary from the values being used in the shard associated with thepeer-to-peer transactions (e.g., prices listed in shard 1). Formitigating the problem of transactions occurring outside of theelectronic marketplace, the proxy agent can randomize the shardassignments over time, such as determining which shards would beuser-controlled and which shards would be controlled by the proxy agent.In this respect, users originally assigned to a shard where peer-to-peertransactions take place and are attempting to execute fraudulenttransactions, may be reassigned to a different shard at times where theproxy agent manages and controls the acquisition and sale transactionsacross the electronic marketplace for that shard, thereby reducing thelikelihood of users completing any transactions on the onlinemarketplace that are contingent on an external transaction.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 initiates a connection to an application programming interface (API)of an online transaction repository accessible to a plurality ofparticipant devices in a computer-operated multiplayer game, in whichthe online transaction repository includes a collection of itemsassociated with the computer-operated multiplayer game, and where theconnection is initiated by a proxy agent including a plurality ofshards.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 associates a first shard of the plurality of shards to apeer-to-peer transaction channel to the online transaction repository,in which at least two of the plurality of participant devices interactwith one another over the peer-to-peer transaction channel, anddetermines which of the plurality of shards to associate with thepeer-to-peer transaction channel based on a random distribution. Therandom distribution may indicate a random selection of one of theplurality of shards for different times.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 determines a first item from the collection of items having atransactional history that does not exceed a threshold number oftransactions. The first item may be associated with a first item listingaccessible exclusive to the first shard. In this respect, other shardsof the plurality of shards do not have access to the peer-to-peertransaction channel when the first shard is associated with thepeer-to-peer transaction channel. In one or more implementations, morethan one shard is associated with the peer-to-peer transaction channelto gather value information for different items and/or from differentclassification of users. Using the electronic acquisition transactionengine 240, the processor 236 provides the first item to thepeer-to-peer transaction channel via the first shard, and then monitorsthe first item for any activity.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 determines that a trigger event associated with the first itemoccurred on the peer-to-peer transaction channel, and determines whetheran item listing for the first item either resulted in a sale transactionor the item listing expired.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 determines that the first item exists in metadata of the onlinetransaction repository, and determines a number of electronicacquisition transactions for the first item over a specified period oftime. Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, theprocessor 236 also determines that the number of electronic acquisitiontransactions does not exceed the threshold number of transactions. Forexample, the first item may be a new item where there is not enoughinformation about its pricing to set a definitive value for that item,or the item does not garner enough traffic to determine the actualamount of demand for that item.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 obtains pricing data associated with the trigger event from thepeer-to-peer transaction channel. In one or more implementations, thepricing data includes a start price value, an end price value or alisting duration value for the first item. The listing duration valuemay indicate a length of time from when the first item listing wasgenerated to a time when the first item was acquired by an electronictransaction responsive to the first item listing. In one or moreimplementations, the pricing data indicates a number of interactionsbetween participant devices of the plurality of participant devices withrespect to the first item over a specified period of time. For example,the pricing data may indicate the amount of demand for that item withina given time period.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 generates a weighted distribution of the obtained pricing data, anddetermines a base price value for the first item from the weighteddistribution. In one or more implementations, the base price value isbased on an acquisition metric of the first item from the weighteddistribution. The acquisition metric may indicate a relationship betweenthe number of interactions and a corresponding base price value. Forexample, the value of the item may increase when the number ofinteractions increases, thereby indicating an increase in demand forthat item.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 determines a weight value for each base price pairing in theweighted distribution. In one or more implementations, the base pricepairing indicates a relationship between a given price point and acorresponding listing duration for the first item. The listing durationmay indicate how much time elapsed for the first item to sell in someimplementations, or how much time elapsed before expiring in otherimplementations. The weight value may indicate a number of interactionswith the first item in the online transaction repository at the givenprice point. Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240,the processor 236 also calculates the base price value from alogarithmic equation as a function of the determined weight values.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 determines whether to initiate a sale transaction or an acquisitiontransaction with the online transaction repository, and determines whento acquire a specified item using one or more base price values from theweighted distribution when it is determined to initiate the acquisitiontransaction. Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240,the processor 236 also determines when to generate an item listing forthe specified item using the one or more base price values from theweighted distribution when it is determined to initiate the saletransaction. For example, the values from the weighted distribution maybe indicative of when to acquire an item, when to sell an item, and howto set the value for the item.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 applies the base price value to a second item of a same type as thatof the first item for an electronic acquisition transaction with theonline transaction repository by the proxy agent. In one or moreimplementations, the second item is associated with a second itemlisting accessible exclusive to a second shard of the plurality ofshards. Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, theprocessor 236 adjusts one or more parameters of the second item listingbased on the base price value determined from the weighted distribution.For example, the one or more parameters may include local parametersand/or global parameters for adjusting a prior value for an item listingto a new value.

Using the electronic acquisition transaction engine 240, the processor236 disassociates the first shard from the peer-to-peer transactionchannel, and associates the second shard to the peer-to-peer transactionchannel based on the random distribution. Using the electronicacquisition transaction engine 240, the processor 236 also obtainsadditional pricing data from the peer-to-peer transaction channel viathe second shard. For example, the proxy agent can randomly reassign theshards to the peer-to-peer transaction channel to mitigate anyfraudulent activities that occur outside of the electronic marketplace(or the peer-to-peer transaction channel) from influencing the valuesset through the peer-to-peer transactions.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example process 500 of an electronic acquisitiontransaction to acquire a content item on an online transactionrepository using the example server of FIG. 2. While FIG. 5A isdescribed with reference to FIG. 2, it should be noted that the processsteps of FIG. 5A may be performed by other systems.

The process 500 begins from the occurrence of a trigger event to step501 where the processor 236, using the online transaction repositoryengine 240, determines whether the proxy agent (e.g., server 130) is setwith a parameter signaling indicating that purchase control is enabledglobally (i.e., for all items) or is item specific. If the purchasecontrol is not enabled, then the process 500 proceeds to a state wherethe proxy agent can wait for another trigger event. In one or moreimplementations, the trigger event includes an event where a user haslisted an item for sale or an event where a user has purchased an item.If the purchase control is enabled, then process 500 proceeds to step502.

In one or more implementations, there are two triggers in theinteractive environment, where the proxy agent initiates a determinationon whether or not it wants to look up an item and acquire the item. Forexample, an item that depicts a popular subject, such as a popularprofessional soccer player (e.g., LIONEL MESSI), on the auction housemay be dormant, and the whole market system does not interact with thatitem until one of these triggers occurs. As noted, one of the triggersis when the user lists an item and the other trigger is when the useracquires that item. Whenever there is a change in inventory of a singleitem, the disclosed system, such as the proxy agent, is initiated anddetermines whether the proxy agent is set to act on that item inresponse to the trigger event. The proxy agent first looks at what isthe current associated inventory of items. This operation may serve as a“kill switch” in the interactive environment for items in order to turnitems off (i.e., disable item listings) if the item necessitates to beturned off. The proxy agent then determines whether the item isavailable for acquisition. If the item is available for acquisition (orthe proxy agent is permitted to acquire the item), then the item isadded to the flow. If it is not, then the proxy agent ignores the item.

In step 502, using the online transaction repository engine 240, theprocessor 236 determines whether the item identified from the triggerevent exists in metadata of the online transaction repository in someembodiments, or in metadata associated with the proxy agent in otherembodiments. If the item metadata does exist, then the process 500proceeds to step 503. Otherwise, the process 500 proceeds back to thewait state for another trigger event. The second piece is more of asecurity piece, where the proxy agent determines whether the item existsin the metadata associated with the proxy agent. The metadata may bewhere all content and information for that content coexists. This may beused to prevent buyers from manipulating control of the proxy agent intolooking at fake (or fraudulent) items or items that do not exist.

In step 503, using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor236 calculates a price modifier value and a maximum purchase pricevalue. The maximum purchase price value may be determined using theprice modifier value and a base price for the item. The base price maybe determined from a weighted distribution where the base price valuemay correspond to pricing data from a prior peer-to-peer transaction forthat type of item (see FIG. 4C).

Once the proxy agent verifies the first two pieces of the flow, and theproxy agent can confirm that the item is enabled for acquisition and theitem is indeed a real item, the proxy agent then runs through acalculation to determine the price modifier. The price modifier may bethe calculation that the proxy agent uses to determine the value of thatitem at any given time, and that value is based on the number of itemsthat the proxy agent owns at that time. In this respect, if a user liststhe MESSI item, the proxy agent first determines how many items of thistype does the proxy agent already have. Based on that determination, theproxy agent can determine a starting price (or base price). For example,the proxy agent determines that it owns 5 MESSI items, so the proxyagent then determines that its value should be X.

In some aspects, the interactive environment may run a promotion thatprovides a relatively high probability of a MESSI item being circulatedin a pack of trading cards, such that a large population on the onlinemarketplace (e.g., participant devices interacting with the electronictransaction repository) begin listing the MESSI item for sale. If theMESSI item has a flat price, the proxy agent may experience a spike intransactions because users would be acquiring the MESSI items at arelatively high rate. The proxy agent may determine it does not own asingle one version of the MESSI item, then the proxy agent may concludethat the MESSI item is a very valuable (or popular) item because no usercan acquire a single version of the MESSI item from the proxy agent. Theproxy agent may determine that if it acquires the item with the knowndemand rate, the proxy agent determines that it can potentially sellthat item for a relatively high value because of its rarity. However,when the number of item listings generated by the proxy agent accrue,and no users (e.g., game players) are buying them from the proxy agent,then the proxy agent has to reduce the asking price. In this respect,the proxy agent interface with users simulates a free marketenvironment, where the proxy agent acts as a broker. For example, theproxy agent may measure that users are not interested in this item inexchange for 5 million digital coins (i.e., an asking price of 5million), and the proxy may conclude that it is also not going toacquire a similar item for that price based on the demand rate. This maybe an iterative process by the proxy agent until the proxy agentmeasures an increase in demand rate for the item at a given price point.In one or more implementations, the proxy agent is configured tomaintain an amount of margin above a given asking price for each item toremain profitable.

At a high level, base price is based on rarity. When the interactiveenvironment creates a pack containing multiple items (e.g., digitaltrading cards), the proxy agent determines what is the weight of eachitem. The weight may refer to the probability that the item issues in apack by the interactive environment. In this respect, the lower theweight, the less likely that that item is to issue in a pack. The lowerthe weight, the higher the base price. In one or more implementations,if the proxy agent had a pack that included every single item in theinteractive environment, and the proxy agent stack ranked every singleitem in the interactive environment based on value, the proxy agent canrank the item based on rarity. For example, if the MESSI item is theabsolute best item in the interactive environment, the item would be therarest one that ever issues in a pack. In another example, if a certaindigital trading card (e.g., a 47-rated bronze centerback) is theleast-popular item in the interactive environment and it is thelowest-priced item, then the item is very likely the most common item toissue in a pack and, therefore, the proxy agent automatically calculatesa base price based on the rarity of the item. In one or moreimplementations, if the interactive environment creates a new item thatis better than the MESSI item (e.g., an item depicting a player of theyear RONALDO), then the new item receives a lower base price. In thisrespect, a lower pack issuance rate or a lower weight than the MESSIitem, can result in the new item becoming more valuable on theelectronic marketplace. Conversely, the higher the pack issuance rate orhigher weight, the lower the base price value.

In one or more implementations, the proxy agent provides a document (ora file) to an item database (e.g., item metadata 244), and the proxyagent may set values to the document at a high level based on multiplefactors including, but not limited to, what sports team is the depictedcharacter (e.g., a real professional soccer player) associated with, whothe actual player is, what are the player's attributes, etc. In thisrespect, the proxy agent can determine a base weight value, then theproxy agent can use another formula that takes that base weight value,and computes the base price value. In one or more implementations, theinteractive environment receives the document as an input, and processesthe received document that contains both values (e.g., the base weightvalue, the base price value).

Next, in step 504, using the online transaction repository engine 240,the processor 236 searches for an item that is the same type as the itemidentified from the trigger event. Subsequently, in step 505, using theelectronic acquisition engine 241, the processor 236 determines whetherthe item being searched has been located in the online transactionrepository. In this respect, the located item may satisfy the maximumpurchase price value, where the asking price of the located item isbelow (or does not exceed) the maximum purchase price value. If the itembeing search is located, then the process 500 proceeds to step 506,where the processor 236, using the electronic acquisition engine 241,determines whether a purchase chance control is enabled. If the purchasechance control is enabled, then the process 500 proceeds to region 508,where one or more steps associated with the purchase chance control areexecuted. Otherwise, the process 500 proceeds to step 507.

Next, in step 507, using the electronic acquisition engine 241, theprocessor 236 executes a purchase transaction by buying the located itemfor a buy-now price. In one or more implementations, the buy-now priceexcludes any government-required taxation costs. Subsequently, theprocess 236 proceeds to step 520 to initiate the proxy agent listingflow (see FIG. 5C).

FIG. 5B illustrates another example process 510 of an electronicacquisition transaction to acquire a content item on an onlinetransaction repository using the example server of FIG. 2. While FIG. 5Bis described with reference to FIG. 2, it should be noted that theprocess steps of FIG. 5B may be performed by other systems.

The process 510 begins from the occurrence of a trigger event to step511 where the processor 236, using the online transaction repositoryengine 240, determines whether the proxy agent (e.g., server 130) is setwith a parameter signaling indicating that purchase control is enabledglobally (i.e., for all items) or is item specific. If the purchasecontrol is not enabled, then the process 500 proceeds to a state wherethe proxy agent allows the item listing to expire. In one or moreimplementations, the trigger event includes an event where an itemlisting is set to expire or has already expired depending onimplementation. If the purchase control is enabled, then process 500proceeds to step 512.

In step 512, using the electronic acquisition engine 241, the processor236 calculates a price modifier value and a maximum purchase pricevalue. The maximum purchase price value may be determined using theprice modifier value and a base price for the item. The base price maybe determined from a weighted distribution where the base price valuemay correspond to pricing data from a prior peer-to-peer transaction forthat type of item (see FIG. 4C).

Subsequently, in step 513, using the electronic acquisition engine 241,the processor 236 determines whether the item listing set to expire hasa bid price that does not exceed the maximum purchase price value. Ifthe bid price exceeds the maximum purchase price value, then the process510 proceeds to a state where the processor 236 allows the item listingto expire. Otherwise, the process 510 proceeds to step 514.

Next, in step 514, using the electronic acquisition engine 241, theprocessor 236 determines a bid amount (or value) based on a randomvariable between the bid price and the maximum purchase price value. Thebid amount calculation may be determined using a beta distribution as afunction of predetermined alpha and beta values.

When an item listing expires, the proxy agent may determine the minimumprice value of the item listing, and the proxy agent may determine acandidate current value for that item based on the base price andsupply/demand data (e.g., 245). The proxy agent may apply a random valuecentered around a bell curve, or at a value centered around a percentageof the difference between the base price value and the random value. Forexample, the proxy agent may value the MESSI item at 900,000 digitalcoins, and the item listing for that item indicated a 100 digital coinminimum price and a 1 million digital coin buy-now price. In thisrespect, the proxy agent may calculate a percentage of the 900,000digital coin valuation, obtain a value from a random distribution, andthen determine that the price valuation would be in a range of 550,000digital coins to 600,000 digital coins at the time of expiration. Theproxy agent may then acquire the item from the selling user at the bidprice value (e.g., 550,000 digital coins), and then the proxy agentwould re-list the item for a profit at the higher value of what theproxy agent determined the item is worth at that time (e.g., 900,000digital coins).

The proxy agent uses a beta distribution curve with an alpha value or abeta value, or a combination thereof, depending on implementation. Thealpha and beta values adjust the beta distribution curve to have ahigher probability of X percent. In FIG. 5B, the alpha value is set to 5and the beta value is set to 3, but the values may differ depending onimplementation. The proxy agent may determine a value from thedistribution curve that is between 1% and 100%. In this example, thevalue likely to return is about 40%.

The process 500 then proceeds to step 515, where the processor 236,using the electronic acquisition engine 241, determines whether apurchase chance control is enabled. If the purchase chance control isenabled, then the process 510 proceeds to region 517, where one or moresteps associated with the purchase chance control are executed.Otherwise, the process 510 proceeds to step 516.

Subsequently, in step 517, using the electronic acquisition engine 241,the processor 236 places a bid using the determined bid amount anddetermines that the bid amount was accepted for purchasing the item. Inthis respect, the processor 236 executes a purchase transaction bybuying the winning item for the accepted bid amount. Subsequently, theprocess 236 proceeds to step 520 to initiate the proxy agent listingflow (see FIG. 5C).

In the subject technology, the proxy agent duplicated the online auctionhouse so that all the items that are listed by users are only visible tothe proxy agent. The proxy agent looks up each item listing because theproxy agent is the only entity that has access to look up all theuser-generated item listings. In this respect, the proxy agent decideswhether acquire an item and for what value. When the proxy agentacquires items, the proxy agent lists them in a separate auction house,which is the one that all of the players can access. All the items thatare listed for sale by the proxy agent are originated from other users,but they were all listed by the proxy agent. The users would not see theexact same item as listed by a user, rather the user would only seeitems listed by the proxy agent.

FIG. 5C illustrates an example process 520 of an electronic acquisitiontransaction to list a content item for acquisition on an onlinetransaction repository using the example server of FIG. 2. While FIG. 5Cis described with reference to FIG. 2, it should be noted that theprocess steps of FIG. 5C may be performed by other systems.

The process 520 begins from the occurrence of a purchase transaction bythe proxy agent to step 521, where the processor 236, using the listingengine 242, determines a bid price setting for an item listingidentifying the purchased item. The proxy agent has acquired the itemand determines the value that it wants to re-list the item for on theselling-side online auction house so that users can view the itemlistings and then ideally acquire it back from the proxy agent for aprofit to the proxy agent. The proxy agent first identifies the pricethat the proxy agent acquired the item for. For example, if a userlisted the MESSI item with an asking price of a million digital coins,the proxy agent may have acquired the item with a winning bid value of400,000, such that the proxy agent lists the item at a staring bid priceof about 400,000.

Next, in step 522, using the listing engine 242, the processor 236determines whether a starting buy-now modifier signal is enabled. If thestarting buy-now modifier signal is enabled, then the process 520proceeds to step 523. Otherwise, the process 520 proceeds to step 524.In step 523, the processor 236 determines the buy-now modifierparameter. The buy-now modifier may be determined from a weighted randomdistribution, where the likelihood of an item being purchased at abuy-now price varies for a given buy-now modifier value. For example,the likelihood of the item being purchased at the buy-now price may be35% (or 0.35) when the buy-now modifier value is set to 1.5, whereas thelikelihood decreases to 10% when the buy-now modifier value is set to3.0. In step 524, the processor 236, using the listing engine 242,determines the buy-now price value.

In one or more implementations, the proxy agent calls the startingbuy-now modifier signal, where the proxy agent can modify the startingbid price. The proxy agent may have the modifier parameter set to aweighing value of about 1.0, where the value remains fixed for the lifeof the item listing. In some aspects, the starting buy-now modifierparameter may bet set to provide the item listing at a value of 400,000for about 80% of the time, but vary the value (higher or lower) forabout 20% of the time.

Subsequently, in step 525, the processor 236 determines whether an itemprice-jiggling control signal is enabled. If the item price-jigglingcontrol signal is enabled, then the process 520 proceeds to step 526.Otherwise, the process 520 proceeds to step 527. In step 526, using thelisting engine 242, the processor 236 rounds the bid price and thebuy-now price to the nearest value (e.g., 10/100/1000). In step 527,using the listing engine 242, the processor 236 determines the listingduration. The listing duration may be determined from a weighted randomdistribution, where the likelihood of the item being sold varies for agiven duration. For example, the likelihood that the item would sell atthe determined bid price is 40% (or 0.40) when the duration is set to 4hours, whereas the likelihood decreases to 20% (or 0.20) when theduration is set to 12 hours. Next, in step 528, using the listing engine242, the processor 236 generates the item listing with the determinedparameters (i.e., lists item for sale). Subsequently, the processor 236determines whether the listed item is sold. If the item is sold, thenthe processor 236 may provide the sold item to the purchasing party(e.g., the participant device) over a download transmission to theparticipant device in some embodiments, or stores a copy in a useraccount associated with the participant device in other embodiments.Otherwise, the process 520 proceeds to a relist flow 530 to relist theitem listing (see FIG. 5D).

In one or more implementations, the proxy agent determines the buy-nowprice by calculating a difference of the price that the proxy agent paidto acquire the item and the price that the proxy agent was willing topay for the item (e.g., the maximum acquisition value). The proxy agentthen utilizes the beta distribution to determine a percentage of theprice difference. For example, if the proxy agent was willing to pay amillion digital coins for a given item, but the proxy agent acquired theitem with a bid price of 400,000, the difference is computed to be about600,000. In this respect, the proxy agent determines a percentage valueof 40% from the distribution curve and applies the percentage to thevalue of 600,000. The proxy agent then adds the resultant to the valuethat the proxy agent acquired the item for to then determine the buy-nowprice. In this example, the proxy agent would list the item for a bidprice of about 400,000 with a buy-now price of about 640,000.

FIG. 5D illustrates an example process of an electronic acquisitiontransaction to relist a content item for acquisition on an onlinetransaction repository using the example server of FIG. 2. While FIG. 5Dis described with reference to FIG. 2, it should be noted that theprocess steps of FIG. 5D may be performed by other systems.

The process 530 begins from the occurrence of an item not being soldwithin the parameters of an item listing to step 531, where theprocessor 236, using the relisting engine 243, determines whether arelist starting bid modifier control signal is enabled. If the reliststarting bid modifier control is enabled, then the process 530 proceedsto step 532. Otherwise, the process 530 proceeds to step 533. In step532, using the relisting engine 243, the processor 236 determines arelist bid modifier value. The relist bid modifier value may bedetermined from a weighted random distribution, where the likelihood ofan item being purchased at a relist bid price varies for a given reliststarting bid modifier value. For example, the likelihood of the itembeing purchased at the relist bid price may be 33% (or 0.33) when therelist starting bid modifier value is set to 0.9, whereas the likelihoodremains about the same at 33% when the relist starting bid modifiervalue is set to 1.1. In step 533, using the relisting engine 243, theprocessor 236 sets the relist bid modifier value to a predeterminedrelist starting bid percent value that is a global parameter.

The bid modifier is the ability for the proxy agent to drop the originalitem listing price, when the item was not selling. The proxy agent maydetermine whether to make the price more appealing every time it doesnot sell within the prescribed time period. The proxy agent may beconfigured not to hold inventory greater than a threshold inventorylevel, because every piece of inventory owned by the proxy agent may bea negative factor on the economy given that the proxy agent alreadyincurred a cost for acquiring the item. In some aspect, the proxy agentmay be configured to sell an item as quickly as possible by reducing theoriginal price point to a price point that conforms to the market datatrends. In one or more implementations, the proxy agent decreases theoriginal asking price by 1% or 2% when an item is relisted in someembodiments, or the proxy agent sets the parameter to 100% where theitem is re-listed with no change to the price in other embodiments.

Subsequently, in step 534, using the relisting engine 243, the processor236 determines a new bid price for the item relisting. The new bid pricemay be determined based on a product of the prior bid price value andthe relist bid modifier value. Next, in step 535, the processor 236determines whether the relist buy-now modifier control signal isenabled. If the relist buy-now modifier control signal is enabled, thenthe process 530 proceeds to step 536. Otherwise, the process 530proceeds to step 537.

In step 536, using the relisting engine 243, the processor 236determines a relist buy-now modifier value. The relist buy-now modifiervalue may be determined from a weighted random distribution, where thelikelihood of an item being purchased at a relist buy-now price variesfor a given relist buy-now modifier value. For example, the likelihoodof the item being purchased at the relist buy-now price may be 33% (or0.33) when the relist buy-now modifier value is set to 0.9, whereas thelikelihood remains about the same at 33% when the relist buy-nowmodifier value is set to 1.1. In step 537, using the relisting engine243, the processor 236 sets the relist buy-now modifier value to a fixedvalue (e.g., 1.0).

Subsequently, in step 539, the processor 236 determines whether an itemprice-jiggling control signal is enabled. If the item price-jigglingcontrol signal is enabled, then the process 520 proceeds to step 540.Otherwise, the process 520 proceeds to step 541. In step 540, using therelisting engine 243, the processor 236 rounds the bid price and thebuy-now price to the nearest value (e.g., 10/100/1000). Next, in step541, using the relisting engine 243, the processor 236 determines thelisting duration. The listing duration may be determined from a weightedrandom distribution, where the likelihood of the item being sold variesfor a given duration. For example, the likelihood that the item wouldsell at the determined bid price is 40% (or 0.40) when the duration isset to 4 hours, whereas the likelihood decreases to 20% (or 0.20) whenthe duration is set to 12 hours. Next, in step 542, using the relistingengine 243, the processor 236 generates the item relisting with thedetermined parameters (i.e., relists item for sale). Subsequently, theprocessor 236 determines whether the relisted item is sold. If the itemis sold, then the processor 236 may provide the sold item to thepurchasing party (e.g., the participant device) over a downloadtransmission to the participant device in some embodiments, or stores acopy in a user account associated with the participant device in otherembodiments. Otherwise, the process 530 proceeds back to the start ofthe relist flow 530 to relist the item listing.

In one or more implementations, the proxy agent utilizes a differentversion of the global values for each shard. In this respect, the usersdo not access (or view) the same online transaction repository becauseeach shard corresponds to a different version of the online transactionrepository where different global values are applied to each shard. Forexample, the proxy agent may have one shard where the proxy agent doesnot decrease prices, whereas another shard where the proxy agent doesincrease the prices. In one or more implementations, the users arerandomly assigned to a shard when the user initiates the interactiveenvironment. In traditional online auction houses, where a largecollection of items for an interactive environment are all hosted in asingle auction house, and users are simultaneously bidding and lookingat items on the single auction house, the load on the servers can becomesignificantly high. In this respect, the shards employed by the proxyagent help distribute the amount of data traffic (or volume) that istraversing the network tied to the proxy agent at any given point intime by allocating certain data traffic to certain shards of the proxyagent.

In one or more implementations, the proxy agent configures the valuesfor interacting with the online transaction repository and makes themtunable on a per-shard basis. The proxy agent may tune the configurationvalues such that different user behavior may be monitored on each shard.In some aspects, the proxy agent may determine the impact on userengagement, the impact on user behavior, and the impact on spendconversion. For example, the proxy agent may mark up prices by anaverage of 10% for items on shard 1, whereas items on Shard 2 haveprices marked up by 100% (i.e., double the value). In this example, theproxy agent can run these configuration scenarios on the specified shardfor a specified period of time to gather telemetry data from each shard.The gathered telemetry data may then be utilized by the proxy agent todetermine an optimal tuning value that increases both player engagementrates and player conversion rates, thereby improving the economicstanding of the proxy agent through the online transaction repository.The received feedback (or received telemetry data) triggers the proxyagent to automatically select different global values from its libraryto cause a change in user interactivity levels with respect to the itemlistings for a given shard in some embodiments, or the proxy agentprovides a user interface to allow a user to manually adjust the globalvalues in response to the received feedback. The received telemetry datamay be stored in the item metadata 244 or in the supply/demand data 245,or a combination thereof, depending on implementation. In some aspects,the telemetry data may be stored remotely, and remotely accessible tothe server 130.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a user interface 600 for practicing theexample process of FIG. 5A via the application 222 of the client 110. InFIG. 6, the user interface 600 depicts a market landing page wherepotential buyers can search for items on the online transactionrepository.

The user interface 600 of the application 222 includes a navigation barcomposed of a browse control 601, listings control 602, and active bidscontrol 608. The navigation bar may include a back operation to visit aprior page (or landing page) such as a marketplace portal (e.g., market605). In FIG. 600, a listing of content items (e.g., digital tradingcards) are displayed in a sequential-based layout but the listing ofcontent items may be in a different layout depending on implementation.The listing of content items may include a predetermined layout set bythe proxy agent and/or the online transaction repository depending onimplementation. For example, the content items may be displayed as anarray, where a user may scroll the array to display additional contentitems.

The listing of content items may include images depicting gamecharacters (e.g., depiction of professional soccer players). The userinterface 600 also includes a search control 603 and a sell control 604.The search control 603 may be utilized to search for active listingsfrom other users. The sell control 604 may be utilized to initiate oneor more sale transactions of a given content item. The user interface600 also includes an indication of a quantity of digital coins (e.g.,609) earned and/or purchased by a user (e.g., a tally of digital coinsassociated with a user's account). Each item in the listing of contentitems may include an indication of an existing item listing with pricinginformation on how to purchase the item (e.g., start price value, sellprice value (if item sold), or buy-now price value).

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIG. 5C via the application 222 of the client 110. InFIG. 7, the user interface 700 depicts a seller landing page wherepotential sellers can review their inventory and select items to sell.In this respect, the seller landing page can be used to generate an itemlisting. The user interface 700 includes a browse control 701 fornavigating to and from the seller landing page. On the seller landingpage, the user interface 700 also includes a minimum price input field702 and a buy now price input field 703. The listing duration can be setfor the item listing. The user interface 700 includes a notification 704indicating that the proxy agent can collect a percentage of the proceedsfrom the sale transaction resulting from the item listing. The userinterface 700 also includes an array of content items 705 for selectionas part of a seller's inventory. The seller's inventory may beassociated with a user account of the multiplayer game in someembodiments, or associated with a shard of the online transactionrepository in other embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIG. 5C via the application 222 of the client 110. InFIG. 8, the user interface 800 depicts another example of a sellerlanding page where a seller can view when an item to be listed for salehas been selected and a price has been added. In this example, one ofthe content items from the array of content items has been selected by adrag-and-drop operation, which can be selected using any other type ofuser input selection operation (e.g., click, double-tap gesture, swipinggesture, etc.) depending on implementation. The minimum price inputfield 801 includes a first user-selected value (e.g., 100 digitalcoins), and the buy now price input field 804 includes a seconduser-selected value (e.g., 50,000 digital coins). The listing durationinput field 802 includes a third user-selected value (e.g., 4 hourduration), which indicates how long the item listing will be activebefore expiring. The user interface 800 also includes a post itemcontrol 805 for submitting a control to the proxy agent to confirminstantiation of the item listing on the online transaction repository.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIG. 5A via the application 222 of the client 110. InFIG. 9, the user interface 900 depicts another example of a sellerlanding page where the landing page shows the listings that the sellercurrently has for sale through the proxy agent. The user interface 900includes a representation of an item listing 901. The item listing 901includes a representation of a game character 902 (e.g., an avatardepicting a professional soccer player), a listing duration notification903, a minimum price setting notification 904, a current sell pricenotification 905, and a buy-now price notification 906.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIGS. 5A and 5B via the application 222 of the client110. In FIG. 10, the user interface 1000 depicts a buyer landing pagewhere potential buyers can select an item for purchase, either byplacing a bid or by initiating a buy-now transaction. The user interface1000 includes an item listing 1001 that indicates multiple pieces ofinformation about the item. For example, the item listing 1001 includesa representation of a game character 1002, a comparison chart 1003, alisting duration 1005 for the item listing 1001, a current bid price1006 for the item listing 1001, and a purchase control interface 1007.The purchase control interface 1007 includes a buy now control and aplace bid control, where either control can initiate the electronicacquisition transaction for the item listed for sale. The comparisonchart 1003 may include a comparison of skill ratings with respect toanother game character.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a user interface for practicing theexample process of FIGS. 5A and 5B via the application 222 of the client110. In FIG. 11, the user interface 1100 depicts another example of abuyer landing page where an item listing has a current bid by apotential buyer. The user interface 1100 includes a representation of anitem listing 1101 marked as sold. The item listing 1101 includes arepresentation of a game character 1102 (e.g., an avatar depicting aprofessional soccer player), a listing duration notification 1103indicating that the item listing has been completed (i.e., item listingno longer active), a start price setting notification 1104, a sellingprice notification 1105, and a buy-now price notification 1106. In thisexample, the item listing 1101 sold at the buy-now price of 790 digitalcoins, where the bidding for the item started at the bid price of 760digital coins.

Hardware Overview

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system1200 with which the client 110 and server 120 of FIG. 1 can beimplemented. In certain aspects, the computer system 1200 may beimplemented using hardware or a combination of software and hardware,either in a dedicated server, integrated into another entity, ordistributed across multiple entities.

Computer system 1200 (e.g., client 110 and server 120) includes a bus1208 or other communication mechanism for communicating information, anda processor 1202 (e.g., processor 212 and 236) coupled with bus 1208 forprocessing information. By way of example, the computer system 1200 maybe implemented with one or more processors 1202. Processor 1202 may be ageneral-purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), aField Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD),a controller, a state machine, gated logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any other suitable entity that can perform calculationsor other manipulations of information.

Computer system 1200 can include, in addition to hardware, code thatcreates an execution environment for the computer program in question,e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, adatabase management system, an operating system, or a combination of oneor more of them stored in an included memory 1204 (e.g., memory 220 and232), such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a Read OnlyMemory (ROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable PROM(EPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, orany other suitable storage device, coupled to bus 1208 for storinginformation and instructions to be executed by processor 1202. Theprocessor 1202 and the memory 1204 can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

The instructions may be stored in the memory 1204 and implemented in oneor more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computerprogram instructions encoded on a computer readable medium for executionby, or to control the operation of, the computer system 1200, andaccording to any method well known to those of skill in the art,including, but not limited to, computer languages such as data-orientedlanguages (e.g., SQL, dBase), system languages (e.g., C, Objective-C,C++, Assembly), architectural languages (e.g., Java, .NET), andapplication languages (e.g., PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python). Instructions mayalso be implemented in computer languages such as array languages,aspect-oriented languages, assembly languages, authoring languages,command line interface languages, compiled languages, concurrentlanguages, curly-bracket languages, dataflow languages, data-structuredlanguages, declarative languages, esoteric languages, extensionlanguages, fourth-generation languages, functional languages,interactive mode languages, interpreted languages, iterative languages,list-based languages, little languages, logic-based languages, machinelanguages, macro languages, metaprogramming languages, multiparadigmlanguages, numerical analysis, non-English-based languages,object-oriented class-based languages, object-oriented prototype-basedlanguages, off-side rule languages, procedural languages, reflectivelanguages, rule-based languages, scripting languages, stack-basedlanguages, synchronous languages, syntax handling languages, visuallanguages, wirth languages, and xml-based languages. Memory 1204 mayalso be used for storing temporary variable or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions to be executed by processor1202.

A computer program as discussed herein does not necessarily correspondto a file in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of afile that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts storedin a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to theprogram in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files thatstore one or more modules, subprograms, or portions of code). A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers that are located at one site or distributed across multiplesites and interconnected by a communication network. The processes andlogic flows described in this specification can be performed by one ormore programmable processors executing one or more computer programs toperform functions by operating on input data and generating output.

Computer system 1200 further includes a data storage device 1206 such asa magnetic disk or optical disk, coupled to bus 1208 for storinginformation and instructions. Computer system 1200 may be coupled viainput/output module 1210 to various devices. The input/output module1210 can be any input/output module. Exemplary input/output modules 1210include data ports such as USB ports. The input/output module 1210 isconfigured to connect to a communications module 1212. Exemplarycommunications modules 1212 (e.g., communications modules 218 and 238)include networking interface cards, such as Ethernet cards and modems.In certain aspects, the input/output module 1210 is configured toconnect to a plurality of devices, such as an input device 1214 (e.g.,input device 216) and/or an output device 1216 (e.g., output device214). Exemplary input devices 1214 include a keyboard and a pointingdevice, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which a user can provide inputto the computer system 1200. Other kinds of input devices 1214 can beused to provide for interaction with a user as well, such as a tactileinput device, visual input device, audio input device, or brain-computerinterface device. For example, feedback provided to the user can be anyform of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, ortactile feedback, and input from the user can be received in any form,including acoustic, speech, tactile, or brain wave input. Exemplaryoutput devices 1216 include display devices such as a LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the client 110 andserver 120 can be implemented using a computer system 1200 in responseto processor 1202 executing one or more sequences of one or moreinstructions contained in memory 1204. Such instructions may be readinto memory 1204 from another machine-readable medium, such as datastorage device 1206. Execution of the sequences of instructionscontained in the main memory 1204 causes processor 1202 to perform theprocess steps described herein. One or more processors in amulti-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute thesequences of instructions contained in memory 1204. In alternativeaspects, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combinationwith software instructions to implement various aspects of the presentdisclosure. Thus, aspects of the present disclosure are not limited toany specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

Various aspects of the subject matter described in this specificationcan be implemented in a computing system that includes a back endcomponent, e.g., such as a data server, or that includes a middlewarecomponent, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front endcomponent, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface ora Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementationof the subject matter described in this specification, or anycombination of one or more such back end, middleware, or front endcomponents. The components of the system can be interconnected by anyform or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communicationnetwork. The communication network (e.g., network 150) can include, forexample, any one or more of a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, and the like.Further, the communication network can include, but is not limited to,for example, any one or more of the following network topologies,including a bus network, a star network, a ring network, a mesh network,a star-bus network, tree or hierarchical network, or the like. Thecommunications modules can be, for example, modems or Ethernet cards.

Computer system 1200 can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.Computer system 1200 can be, for example, and without limitation, adesktop computer, laptop computer, or tablet computer. Computer system1200 can also be embedded in another device, for example, and withoutlimitation, a mobile telephone, a PDA, a mobile audio player, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) receiver, a video game console, and/or atelevision set top box.

The term “machine-readable storage medium” or “computer readable medium”as used herein refers to any medium or media that participates inproviding instructions to processor 1202 for execution. Such a mediummay take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media,volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, forexample, optical or magnetic disks, such as data storage device 1206.Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as memory 1204. Transmissionmedia include coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, includingthe wires that comprise bus 1208. Common forms of machine-readable mediainclude, for example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetictape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other opticalmedium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any other memory chipor cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read. Themachine-readable storage medium can be a machine-readable storagedevice, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, acomposition of matter effecting a machine-readable propagated signal, ora combination of one or more of them.

As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” preceding a series ofitems, with the terms “and” or “or” to separate any of the items,modifies the list as a whole, rather than each member of the list (i.e.,each item). The phrase “at least one of” does not require selection ofat least one item; rather, the phrase allows a meaning that includes atleast one of any one of the items, and/or at least one of anycombination of the items, and/or at least one of each of the items. Byway of example, the phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” or “at leastone of A, B, or C” each refer to only A, only B, or only C; anycombination of A, B, and C; and/or at least one of each of A, B, and C.

To the extent that the terms “include”, “have”, or the like is used inthe description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive ina manner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpretedwhen employed as a transitional word in a claim. The word “exemplary” isused herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration”.Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

A reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “oneand only one” unless specifically stated, but rather “one or more”. Allstructural and functional equivalents to the elements of the variousconfigurations described throughout this disclosure that are known orlater come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art areexpressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to beencompassed by the subject technology. Moreover, nothing disclosedherein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whethersuch disclosure is explicitly recited in the above description.

While this specification contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of what may be claimed, but ratheras descriptions of particular implementations of the subject matter.Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

The subject matter of this specification has been described in terms ofparticular aspects, but other aspects can be implemented and are withinthe scope of the following claims. For example, while operations aredepicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not beunderstood as requiring that such operations be performed in theparticular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustratedoperations be performed to achieve desirable results. The actionsrecited in the claims can be performed in a different order and stillachieve desirable results. As one example, the processes depicted in theaccompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular ordershown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In certaincircumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.Moreover, the separation of various system components in the aspectsdescribed above should not be understood as requiring such separation inall aspects, and it should be understood that the described programcomponents and systems can generally be integrated together in a singlesoftware product or packaged into multiple software products. Othervariations are within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:initiating a connection to an application programming interface (API) ofan online transaction repository accessible to a plurality ofparticipant devices in a computer-operated multiplayer interactiveenvironment, the online transaction repository including a collection ofitems associated with the computer-operated multiplayer interactiveenvironment, the connection being initiated by a proxy agent including aplurality of shards; associating a first shard of the plurality ofshards to a peer-to-peer transaction channel to the online transactionrepository, at least two of the plurality of participant devicesinteracting with one another over the peer-to-peer transaction channel;determining a first item from the collection of items having atransactional history that does not exceed a threshold number oftransactions, the first item being associated with a first item listingaccessible exclusive to the first shard; providing the first item to thepeer-to-peer transaction channel via the first shard; determining that atrigger event associated with the first item occurred on thepeer-to-peer transaction channel; obtaining value data associated withthe trigger event from the peer-to-peer transaction channel; generatinga weighted distribution of the obtained value data; determining a basevalue for the first item from the weighted distribution; and applyingthe base value to a second item of a same type as that of the first itemfor an electronic acquisition transaction with the online transactionrepository by the proxy agent, the second item being associated with asecond item listing accessible exclusive to a second shard of theplurality of shards.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the value data comprises at least one or more of a start value,an end value or a listing duration value for the first item, the listingduration value indicating a length of time from when the first itemlisting was generated to a time when the first item was acquired by anelectronic transaction responsive to the first item listing.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the firstitem having the transactional history comprises: determining that thefirst item exists in metadata of the online transaction repository;determining a number of electronic acquisition transactions for thefirst item over a specified period of time; and determining that thenumber of electronic acquisition transactions does not exceed thethreshold number of transactions.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the value data indicates a number of interactionsbetween participant devices of the plurality of participant devices withrespect to the first item over a specified period of time.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the base value is basedon an acquisition metric of the first item from the weighteddistribution, the acquisition metric indicating a relationship betweenthe number of interactions and a corresponding base value.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningwhich of the plurality of shards to associate with the peer-to-peertransaction channel based on a random distribution indicating adifferent selection of one of the plurality of shards at differenttimes.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, furthercomprising: disassociating the first shard from the peer-to-peertransaction channel; associating the second shard to the peer-to-peertransaction channel based on the random distribution; and obtainingadditional value data from the peer-to-peer transaction channel via thesecond shard.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinapplying the base value to the second item comprises: adjusting one ormore parameters of the second item listing based on the base valuedetermined from the weighted distribution.
 9. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein determining that the trigger event occurredcomprises: determining whether an item listing for the first item eitherresulted in a sale transaction or the item listing expired.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningwhether to initiate a sale transaction or an acquisition transactionwith the online transaction repository; determining when to acquire aspecified item using one or more base values from the weighteddistribution when it is determined to initiate the acquisitiontransaction; and determining when to generate an item listing for thespecified item using the one or more base values from the weighteddistribution when it is determined to initiate the sale transaction. 11.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the basevalue comprises: determining a weight value for each base price pairingin the weighted distribution, the base price pairing indicating arelationship between a given price point and a corresponding listingduration for the first item, the weight value indicating a number ofinteractions with the first item in the online transaction repository atthe given price point; and calculating the base value from a logarithmicequation as a function of the determined weight values.
 12. A system,comprising: a memory; and one or more processors storing instructionsthereon, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause theone or more processors to perform operations, the operations comprising:initiating a connection to an application programming interface (API) ofan online transaction repository accessible to a plurality ofparticipant devices in a computer-operated multiplayer interactiveenvironment, the online transaction repository including a collection ofitems associated with the computer-operated multiplayer interactiveenvironment, the connection being initiated by a proxy agent including aplurality of shards; associating a first shard of the plurality ofshards to a peer-to-peer transaction channel to the online transactionrepository, at least two of the plurality of participant devicesinteracting with one another over the peer-to-peer transaction channel;determining a first item from the collection of items having atransactional history that does not exceed a threshold number oftransactions, the first item being associated with an item listingaccessible exclusive to the first shard; providing the first item to thepeer-to-peer transaction channel via the first shard; determining that atrigger event associated with the first item occurred on thepeer-to-peer transaction channel; obtaining value data associated withthe trigger event from the peer-to-peer transaction channel; generatinga weighted distribution of the obtained value data; determining a basevalue for the first item from the weighted distribution; and applyingthe base value to a second item of a same type as that of the first itemfor an electronic acquisition transaction with the online transactionrepository by the proxy agent, the second item being associated with anitem listing accessible exclusive to a second shard of the plurality ofshards.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein determining the first itemhaving the transactional history comprises: determining that the firstitem exists in metadata of the online transaction repository;determining a number of electronic acquisition transactions for thefirst item over a specified period of time; and determining that thenumber of electronic acquisition transactions does not exceed thethreshold number of transactions.
 14. The system of claim 12, whereinthe value data indicates a number of interactions between participantdevices of the plurality of participant devices with respect to thefirst item over a specified period of time.
 15. The system of claim 14,wherein the base value is based on an acquisition metric of the firstitem from the weighted distribution, the acquisition metric indicating arelationship between the number of interactions and a corresponding basevalue.
 16. The system of claim 12, further comprising: determining whichof the plurality of shards to associate with the peer-to-peertransaction channel based on a random distribution indicating adifferent selection of one of the plurality of shards at differenttimes.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the operations furthercomprise: disassociating the first shard from the peer-to-peertransaction channel; associating the second shard to the peer-to-peertransaction channel based on the random distribution; and obtainingadditional value data from the peer-to-peer transaction channel via thesecond shard.
 18. A non-transitory computer readable storage mediumincluding instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to perform operations, the operations comprising: initiating aconnection to an application programming interface (API) of an onlinetransaction repository accessible to a plurality of participant devicesin a computer-operated multiplayer interactive environment, the onlinetransaction repository including a collection of items associated withthe computer-operated multiplayer interactive environment, theconnection being initiated by a proxy agent including a plurality ofshards; associating a first shard of the plurality of shards to apeer-to-peer transaction channel to the online transaction repository,at least two of the plurality of participant devices interacting withone another over the peer-to-peer transaction channel; determining afirst item from the collection of items having a transactional historythat does not exceed a threshold number of transactions, the first itembeing associated with an item listing accessible exclusive to the firstshard; providing the first item to the peer-to-peer transaction channelvia the first shard; determining that a trigger event associated withthe first item occurred on the peer-to-peer transaction channel;obtaining value data associated with the trigger event from thepeer-to-peer transaction channel; generating a weighted distribution ofthe obtained value data; determining a base value for the first itemfrom the weighted distribution; and applying the base value to a seconditem of a same type as that of the first item for an electronicacquisition transaction with the online transaction repository by theproxy agent, the second item being associated with an item listingaccessible exclusive to a second shard of the plurality of shards. 19.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, whereinthe operations further comprise: adjusting one or more parameters of thesecond item listing based on the base value determined from the weighteddistribution.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 18, wherein the operations further comprise: determining whetheran item listing for the first item either resulted in a sale transactionor the item listing expired.